Abbreviated Supporting Statement

OMB Approval No. 1205-0436

Expiration Date: 01/31/2017

ABBREVIATED SUPPORTING STATEMENT

CLEARANCE FORM

A. SUPPLEMENTAL SUPPORTING STATEMENT

A.1. Title:

Technical Assistance (Feasibility Study)

A.2. Compliance with 5 CFR 1320.5:

Yes __X_ No _____

A.3. Assurances of confidentiality: Yes. Privacy of respondents will be assured.

A.4. Federal cost:

Data Collection $35,000

Data Analysis $25,000

Federal Oversight $14,000

TOTAL: $74,000

A.5. Requested expiration date (Month/Year): September 2014

A.6. Burden Hour estimates:

a. Number of Respondents:	400
a.1. % Received Electronically	100
b. Frequency	1
c. Average Response Time	15 min
d. Total Annual Burden Hours	100

A7. Does the collection of information employ statistical methods?

______ No

____X___ Yes (Complete Section B and attach CEO approval).

A.8 Abstract:

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) makes a substantial investment in technical assistance (TA) every year to fulfill its mission: to expand opportunities for high quality job training and employment, support real-time labor market information, and provide income maintenance to unemployed workers. The technical assistance that ETA provides varies and depends upon multiple factors, such as: subject matter content, availability of modality/activity, provider expertise, recipient needs, and sources of funding. Varying combinations of these factors each year suggest the extraordinary complexity that ETA faces in evaluating the effectiveness of its TA investments at every level. New data collected under this survey will support future data-driven decisions about the provision of effective TA.

This web-based survey will provide detailed information from TA recipients about their experiences with the TA, their use of TA, and their views on the effectiveness of different types of TA. Responses to the surveys will inform ETA about the type of TA efforts that will be suitable subject matter in an impact study.

Web-Based Survey

The 400 web-based survey respondents will include recipients of a broad spectrum of ETA-sponsored TA initiatives, including both formula and competitively-funded grantees (e.g., American Job Center staff, Local Workforce Investment Board Staff, non-profit organizations, community colleges), as well as state labor and workforce agency staff. We will include the following respondents: 1) state workforce agency employment and training division directors (or equivalent) for all 50 states, 2) state workforce agency unemployment insurance division directors for all 50 states, 3) directors of workforce investment Boards for all 50 states, and 4) a random selection of 100 LWIB directors, and 5) a purposive selection of current ETA grantees (directors or managers). We expect an 80% response rate. The survey instrument has been developed collaboratively with ETA, and field tested with 4 respondents.

This data collection will not duplicate any information currently collected. Although identifiers will be used to monitor survey completion and link survey responses to states and regions, identifiers of respondents will not be included in published reports nor otherwise be revealed to anyone not directly involved in the information collection.